Inside the fascinating world of Nigeria’s POWER BIKE RIDERS

AS she entered the bank building that morning, the young lady drew curious glances from onlookers. Not surprising considering the way she looked. Dressed in full biker gear in sturdy black leather jacket, black trousers complete with hefty knee, elbow and shoulder pads and black biker shoes, she could pass for something out of the science fiction movie, Transformers.

As she left the building after transacting her business, a man ran after her.

“Good job, good job!” he gushed, shaking her hand. Then he handed her an envelope containing some money as a way of, “showing his appreciation and admiration of her,” as he put it.

That incident is one of many that Matilda Otulana, one of the hundreds of power bike riders in the country, faces regularly. Wherever she goes either alone or in a group, she attracts attention with on-lookers gazing at her in wonder as if she is a strange being from space. Others wonder if she’s human. Being a lady in a sport regarded as a macho one for mostly the male folk, gets her double attention.

“I get mixed reactions from people,” the legal practitioner who works in a bank, told The Nation. “Some are impressed while others hate it. In my bank, I have people who like it because it’s not common.”

The fad for power biking in Nigeria

While the sport of power bike riding in Nigeria is a relatively new phenomenon, motorbikes have been a regular feature on Nigerian roads in many towns and cities for decades. Japanese made models like Yamaha, Suzuki and Vespa were the popular choice of motorbike lovers who rode them both for business and pleasure. Then sometime in the 1970s and 80s, commercial motorcycles, popularly known as ‘okada’ became ubiquitous on the roads as a faster means of moving around traffic-choked roads in the metropolis.

And now the power or superbikes. These motorcycles are bigger, sleeker and faster with speed range of between 150- 350 km per hour. Beginning with a few numbers some years ago, these fast, rugged ‘machines’ have become more common on our roads. Besides the rugged looking bikes which are eye-catching enough, the riders when kitted out in their full body armour of jacket and trousers, full face helmet, boots, gloves, knee and elbow pads and other biker ensemble are a sight to behold. With their fast as-lightening speed and the stunts they perform, they could pass for characters in a gritty Hollywood action movie, especially of the James Bond variety.

Wherever they are, especially when riding in a group, they draw stares and comments from the public who are often thrilled by their daredevil moves and speed. Over time, they have assumed a tough, rugged image, a kind of swagger that has further endeared them to a section of the public.

So, who are these power bike aficionados who have chosen life on the fast lane, riding bikes at dizzying speed that would give the faint-hearted person serious heart palpitations?

In their day jobs, they are highly trained, respected professionals such as lawyers, bankers, engineers, doctors, industrialists, pilots among others. Off-duty, however, the formal office suits are switched for tough-looking biker gear that give them an intimidating look. To some of these bikers, it’s a hobby while for others, it’s the thrill, sense of adventure and freedom it gives.

Adebayo Banjo, an engineer and 35 year-veteran of bike riding belongs to this category. “I love riding power bike because it’s exciting. It represents freedom and speed,” stated the 53 year old in an interview. His forays into the sport started with a modest Suzuki 250 model in the ’70s but has now graduated to riding more exotic ‘big bikes’.

Another great lover of these bikes is Femi Segun, former ambassador and multi-linguist. “Super bikers come in different outlooks. But one common thing among them is their unique style, bravado, and love for adventure,” he explained when asked on his passion for bike racing. His choice ‘machine’ which he rides about town is a ‘beast, a Kawasaki ZX1400 Ninja. It’s about the second fastest sports bike in the world which does 1-100 kph in 2.5 seconds with a top speed of 320kph.

His love for racing began decades ago as an undergraduate at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). “I started riding Superbikes when I was in my second year on campus in 1976. That was when I bought a Kawasaki 250cc. It was considered big in those days. After that I began riding my friends’ Kawasaki Z1000cc. That makes it 36 years ago, since I started riding bikes,” he disclosed.

Continuing, he added: “In the beginning, I actually started out riding Mobylettes, you know, the small motorized bicycles that you pedal until it starts when I was about 13 years old in 1972. An uncle of mine had one and used to let my cousin and I ride it up and down the street, whenever he came visiting my parents. Then in 1975, this same cousin’s roommate at the University of Ife (Now OAU) had a small Kawasaki 100cc. We used to ride that, also. That was the first time I rode a bike that had proper gears.”

Ikhide Izokpu is the current President of Easy Riders Motorcycle Club, Lagos. A public servant, he has a Bsc from Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, Edo State and an MBA from the Lagos State University, LASU.

He began riding six years ago due to his ‘passion’ for racing. Said he: “I will substitute flair for passion. As you grow older, you look for the opportunity and time to do what you enjoy doing. When I was much younger, then bikes were one in a million- you could sit outside for about two hours without seeing them, so when one passes once in a month, you are like wow did it just pass? I get excited whenever I see them and I told myself that when I grow up I want to do that. And when I got older, I started riding.”

On the thrill of riding Otulana, whose desire is to see more women riders, said: “The kind of fellowship you gain from being a biker is awesome. I’ve enjoyed the thrill. I don’t know how to describe it. There is this adrenaline I get when I’m on my bike.”

Toying with danger

While certain sports and pastimes come with an element of danger, that of motorbike racing is doubly so because of the intense speed involved. Though statistics are not readily available, there have been reported cases of accidents involving power bike riders which have resulted in bodily injuries and in some cases death.

Speaking on this, Izokpu stated: “Well, it depends on the community and where you are actually riding to. Every mode of transportation has its own dangers. Like two weeks ago, a car just passed the toll gate going through inward Lekki, within few minutes, the car just somersaulted at absolutely no speed. If it was a motor cycle that went off like that, they would say okay because it’s a motor cycle, but it was a car. So, if we actually can, all of us, nobody is exempted, obey traffic rules and regulations, I’m sure it will be safer for motorcycles. If you are going to measure risk among Keke Marwa (three wheeler tricycle, okada, cars, buses, trailers, I think motor cycles have a higher risk.”

“Biking could be a dangerous sport, but everything is dangerous if not well managed,” declared Charley Boy, musician and entertainer and one of the pacesetters of power bike riding in Nigeria sometime ago in an interview. The self-proclaimed ‘Area Fada’ of Okada riders of Nigeria, disclosed that he was always careful while riding, and as such, had never been involved in a crash.

The same cannot be said for Otulana who has had about three crashes since she began riding four years ago. She shared her experience: “I’ve had three crashes. It was on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. We were going to ride on one way, and we had to ride through a muddy path. It was very slippery and I mistakenly hit a Nissan car’s rear light. My biker friends gathered round me to help out and dusted my body. Meanwhile, the owner of the car was complaining, ‘My car! my car! You must fix back my car.’ By then I had not removed my helmet. By the time I did, the man was surprised to discover that it was a woman biker. He just shouted ‘go away’. Though he was upset at it, he was also surprised. I didn’t sustain any wound though the bike was slightly damaged and I had to repair it in Ibadan.

“On my second trip to Ibadan on our way back to Lagos, I was so tired and not as alert as I used to be and started making mistakes on motion. As we rode pass Mowe/Ibafo, a bus driver just hit my bike by the side and had to drop the bike. I fell off the bike. By then, a crowd had gathered around me to know what was wrong. I removed my helmet and was almost going to fight the bus driver when the mob started beating him.

“In fact, I had to beg them to stop beating the driver. Funnily, some children were touching me to see if I was a human being. My biker friends too had stopped to see what was wrong because we look out for each other while riding. I knew they were trying to ride back to see what had happened to me. I just checked myself and found no injury on me. So, I started my bike and rode on. It’s a fantastic experience.

“If the road is in good condition, Lagos to Ibadan is 55 minutes on bike but the road is bad which we travelled in an hour. You speed and reduce your speed in some parts. My bike is called a sport tourer. It’s good for long distance. When approaching a pothole, you have to reduce your speed to 60km so you manoeuvre through the pothole because your hand is always on the brake, you down gear.

“My third crash was very slight. A driver hit my bike on motion and ran away. I was able to control it to avoid me falling off the bike. I’ve been very lucky while riding on major roads.”

To Banjo, motor bike riding can be quite safe if one is well trained and follows the rules of riding. “There are rules governing power bike riding,” he maintained, noting: “People should be well trained before riding. They also need to be well kitted to protect themselves in case of accidents. They should always ride in full biker gear of helmet, jacket, boots, elbow and knee pads.”

While most riders complain about the bad roads in the country which hamper a smooth riding experience, Banjo’s biggest grouse is Keke and Okada riders. “They are the biggest dangers to us on the roads because they are so reckless. Then, there are the drivers of Jeeps particularly the women, many of whom can’t drive well. Weekends- Saturdays and Sundays- are the most dangerous days because that’s when these women come out in their Jeeps; we have been hit many times by them. There are also oil spills, potholes and other things which disturb us on the road. I had accidents when I was younger and I used to speed a lot,” he noted.

For Segun, a major crash some years ago cost him some teeth and broken bones. “I know that I was one of the earliest to have a major crash in which I lost two of my teeth and broke some bones on October 8, 1976. But I survived it obviously,” he said.

Long distance riders

While some riders like short city or town shuttles, for others like Izokpu, the longer the distance, the better.

“Out of town ride is my favourite,” he said, adding: “I have been to most states in Nigeria on my bike. You actually have to prepare for it, first you have to be mentally and physically fit. Secondly, you have to know your body system. I will give you an example. Riding now (in the afternoon), it will be very hot. You may think you are okay but you could be very dehydrated and the next thing you could just fall off the bike and you would be wondering what happened?

“So, if you know that you are dehydrated, you stop and sip water. Usually when riding, you use the cannon pack- it’s like a back patch, coming to your front and goes into your mouth- then as you ride, you sip at any point in time you are dehydrated. So I use it when I’m going for long journeys like going to Benin or Abuja. Initially, I used to take it to Benin but now I don’t use cannon pack to Benin. It’s also called dehydration pack. I use it when I go further than Benin or further than a four hours journey and I get tired. If you don’t have that, you can always stop every hour and take a sip of water or Lucozade, usually water and a little sugar and glucose.”

“I’ve not done pass Ibadan, Abeokuta and Lagos. I hope to go on far distance riding,” said Otulana, who does not see biking as a big deal. “When I get the kind of reaction I get from people, I feel sometimes, what’s the big deal with riding a bike? There is really no big deal in riding a bike, just that there are few women who do it.”

An elitist hobby?

Power bike riding is an expensive hobby, considering the cost of the motorbikes and other paraphernalia of riding. Findings show that many of them are more expensive than cars, with some going for about N2.3m and others about N4m and above, depending on its capacity. For instance, popular brands like Yamaha 1000cc costs about N2.3m or more. “Some of the exotic, big bikes can go for as high as N5m, including cost of insurance,” said Banjo. This has made some observers of the sport to brand it elitist like polo or other popular sports of the rich. Many see it as a hobby for the ‘big boys’ in town, who have the wherewithal to afford the expensive bikes.

But Izopku disagrees, stating: “I wish I can say yes but I will say no to the assertion that power biking is elitist. if you decide to commit to a car, and you buy it for one million naira and use it to commute to work every day and I say, ‘me I no fit for traffic o,’ and I opt for a motorcycle of N700, 000, that is my means of commuting to work. Your means is car, so that’s the way it is. If I want to buy a motorcycle for five million, and I can afford it to commute to work, I will. If you want to buy a car of seven million, or simply five million, it is what you want, so it has nothing to do with being elitist or that it is for the rich only. It is like saying the car is for the rich. There are cars of N200,000, likewise bikes of 200,000. It is for everybody, so it is relative.”

Brotherhood of bikers

With the increasing number of people taking up the hobby, different associations and clubs have sprung up to take care of bikers’ interests. In Lagos, there are the Easy Riders Motorcycle Club, Ikeja, the Wheelers, the Angels (based in Festac) and a few others. In Abuja, there is the Capital City Motorcycle Club, among others.

On the benefits of belonging to the five year-old Easy Riders’ Club, its President said: “It’s the passion. We share ideas, share experiences, exchange contacts just in case you need someone to assist. You can work in a bank and I need to access the facilities, work in telecoms or oil company and I need to get a product or anything, we just help ourselves.”

Otulana, who does not feel intimidated being one of the few female bikers, spoke on the camaraderie among bikers. “The club makes me feel I’m part of them because we share a common bond together. We have actually learnt the act of trust; it’s more than sharing the same passion, we see each other now as a family. Initially when I started riding, they welcomed me in whether they thought I was going to finally ride or not. The fact that I am a lady does not make any difference.”

Banjo is not too happy with what he referred to as, “certain individuals who are trying to form clubs and cliques and force people to conform to their rules.” It’s one of the growing problems of biking in Nigeria today,” he grumbled. “There are some bikers going to government and saying ‘we are bikers association and asking that laws should be put in biking. This is not right; they don’t have the right to lord it over bikers because once you start putting restrictions on bikers who are free-spirited, you are moving towards cults, gangs like Hell’s Angels (in the U.S). We, the real older bikers want to maintain our integrity and protect ourselves from unscrupulous elements trying to take control of riding in the country.”

Wives’ worries

Due to the element of danger in bike riding, it is understand able why most spouses of riders tend to be apprehensive about their partners’ sport of choice. Some are vehemently against it and do anything to stop their husbands from riding.

A Lekki-based mother of two, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated: “When my husband bought his first power bike about six years ago, I was not happy at all. I feared for his safety, especially when someone we knew died while riding to Benin on his power bike. I begged him to sell it and to stop riding but he refused. So, one day when he travelled out of the country, I looked for a buyer and sold it. You can imagine how mad he was when he returned and found his bike gone! It caused a quarrel that lasted for nearly a year. Later, he bought another one and for the sake of peace in our home and to keep my marriage, I didn’t protest. In fact, I no longer quarrel with him about riding and let him do what he wants.”

She’s not alone in her concerns for her spouse. Said Segun on this: “Of course my wife is concerned. She was so relieved when I sold my last bike, Suzuki GX750R a couple of years ago as she thought I was done with riding. She was upset when she saw this new one, but she had to accept it when I explained to her that I had a project I was working on which involves bikes and that was why I need one at this time.”

“Initially it was a no,,” said Izokpu on his wife’s reaction when he was making plans to buy a power bike. “When I told her I wanted to buy a motorcycle, she told me: ‘You are joking’ and she walked away. She forgot the husband that she married. I had already thought the process through and I just decided to throw it to her, this is what I am gonna do, so you better support me. I knew that if I sat down to discuss it with her, she would definitely not agree, so I told her this is what am going to do and you better support me.

“The first couple of months when I got the motorcycle was traumatic for her- she kept praying and praying. Whenever I travelled was the worst. So, whenever I stop to buy fuel, I have to send her a message, ‘I am at Ijebu ode’, or Ore or any other place. So, she got used to it for like six months before she started feeling comfortable. Now, if I tell her I’m going out of town, Abuja, to Ghana or anywhere, she is absolutely comfortable with it.”

Asked if they ride together like some bikers do with their wives, he jocularly stated: “Let’s put it this way; it is allowed only for one person to be insane in the house. I am the insane one, she is the good one. Absolutely lovely woman!”